Judy Christenberry - Rebecca's Little Secret

She warily entered the law office that afternoon. When she barely avoided running into a tall, handsome man—not Jeff—she abruptly forgot her problems. “Oh, excuse me!” she exclaimed.

“I’m sure it was my fault. I was in too much of a hurry.”

She smiled and stepped back, assuming he was on his way out of the office.

“Are you here about a legal problem?” he asked, not moving.

“No,” Rebecca said, still smiling, “I work here.”

“So do I.” He gave her a curious look.

“Oh, you must be Jeff’s new partner!” Rebecca exclaimed just as Harriet came out of Jeff’s office.

“Oh, good, I see you two have met,” Harriet said with a smile.

“Well, not exactly,” the man said. “She’s figured out I’m Jeff’s new partner, but neither of us knows the other’s name.”

“Well, then, let me introduce you. Rebecca, this is Bill Wallace, Jeff’s new partner, as you suspected. Bill, this is Rebecca Barlow, our part-time help.”

“Hello, Rebecca,” Bill immediately said. He extended his hand, and Rebecca placed hers in it, assuming he wanted to shake hands.

Bill, however, just held her hand, smiling at her. “I must say Jeff has shown great taste in hiring you.”

Embarrassed, Rebecca tugged on her hand. “Actually, Harriet hired me.”

“Then Harriet has shown good taste,” he said, a teasing smile on his face as he continued to hold on to her hand.

Jeff walked out of his office. “What’s going on?”

“I’m just making Rebecca’s acquaintance,” Bill assured him, his smile growing.

Jeff frowned. “I need to see you in my office, Bill.”

Slowly Bill released Rebecca’s hand. “I’ll see you later, Rebecca,” he promised before he turned and followed Jeff into his office.

“Close the door,” Jeff snapped.

Bill did so, but his expression showed concern.

“What’s wrong? Did I commit a faux pas?”

“I just wanted to warn you about flirting with Rebecca.” Jeff sat down behind his desk. “I don’t think it’s a good idea to mix business and personal interests.”

“So she means nothing to you? Personally, I mean.”

Jeff glared at him. “She’s the mother of my son.”

“Your son? I didn’t know you had a son.” Bill stared at him.

“I didn’t know, either, until yesterday,” Jeff admitted. “Rebecca and I had a—a relationship five years ago. I left rather suddenly and moved to Texas to be with my aunt and uncle. Because my aunt was dying of cancer, I didn’t call Rebecca as soon as I’d wanted. By the time I tried to get hold of her, I couldn’t find her.”

“And she didn’t contact you at all?”

“No.”

“Must’ve been a real shock. How did Chelsea take it?”

“As well as could be expected. It will take Chelsea time to adjust to the change.” He wasn’t sure Bill would believe him since he’d met Chelsea several times when they were talking about being partners.

“Yeah, I can imagine. Chelsea’s used to getting her own way. You’ve spoiled her rotten.”

“I have? Her family has certainly spoiled her, but I don’t think I’m guilty of it,” Jeff unhappily asserted.

“Well, Chelsea is the kind of lady you have to take a hard line with, to counterbalance her behavior.”

“When I want your advice on how to handle my fiancée, I’ll ask for it, Bill. Until then, mind your own business and keep away from Rebecca.”

“Wait a minute! You’ve got Chelsea. Where does Rebecca fit in?”

“I told you. She’s the mother of my son.”

“So she has to take a vow of chastity?”

“I don’t think she’d be interested right now.”

“But if she indicates that she is, then there’s no reason I can’t get to know her better?”

“I told you I don’t like mixing our personal lives with our business.” Jeff frowned at his partner to emphasize his point.

“Jeff, she’s a part-time worker, not another lawyer, or even my secretary. I’ll be careful.” With a triumphant smile, he left the office.

Jeff sat there, staring at a painting on the wall without even seeing it. He hated to admit it, but Bill was right. He didn’t have the right to warn Bill away from Rebecca. Not when he was engaged to Chelsea.

And he was committed to Chelsea, of course. But when faced with Rebecca, living and breathing right there in front of him when he’d thought she was gone from him forever, he was growing more and more confused by the minute. He wasn’t sure what he was feeling.

Still, Jeff tried to put aside his emotions and get to work. But he made sure Rebecca was kept busy. Too busy to be available for any flirting with Bill.

EVERYTHING WAS GOING SMOOTHLY. Rebecca was working diligently at the sudden increase of duties she’d received since Jeff returned to work.

He’d offered to take them to the zoo on Saturday. Again Rebecca had tried to convince her son that her presence wasn’t necessary, but Joey had disagreed with her and so had Jeff.

Rebecca worried that she wasn’t fighting hard enough. She knew she wanted to be with Jeff, but she had to realize he was engaged to Chelsea. Her son had a role in Jeff’s life, but Rebecca didn’t, and she tried to remind herself of that fact at every turn.

Then Thursday afternoon came and all hell broke loose….

“Rebecca, you have a call…and the woman sounds upset,” Harriet warned as she held out the phone for Rebecca.

“Hello?”

“Hi, it’s Betty. Peter was playing ball with Joey and—and it was an accident, but the ball hit him in the mouth. Oh, Rebecca, it knocked his tooth out! We didn’t know what to do. I wrapped the tooth in a cold wet cloth, but who do we take him to?”

“I don’t know, but I’ll be right there,” she promised, and hung up the phone. “Sorry, Harriet, but Joey’s been hurt. I have to leave.”

“Jeff will drive you.”

“No, that’s not necessary,” she protested, grabbing her purse and hurrying to the door.

Jeff came out of his office. “Did you call me, Harriet? Where’s Rebecca going?”

“Joey’s been hurt. She’s going home.”

“Does she have her car here?”

“No, she walked, as usual. I said you would drive her but she said it wasn’t necessary.”

“Take care of things,” Jeff ordered over his shoulder as he hurried after Rebecca.

AN HOUR LATER, CHELSEA arrived at the office. Jeff had said he would take her to the French restaurant they’d skipped Monday evening.

She was not happy to discover that her fiancé had left with Rebecca because Joey had gotten hurt. When she expressed her displeasure, Harriet asked, “Shall I call Rebecca’s house and see if they can tell me when Jeff will return?”

“Of course I want you to do that!” Chelsea snapped. She paced the office as Harriet made the call.

“I see,” Harriet said into the phone. “Will you have him call the office as soon as you hear from him? Yes, thank you.”

Chelsea stared at her. “Well?”

“He and Rebecca took Joey to Jeff’s dentist, but they have to wait until he’s dealt with his other patients. They’re not sure when he’ll be back.”

“And I’m supposed to hang around waiting for him?”

Bill stepped out of his office. “What’s wrong?”

Harriet explained the problem while Chelsea frowned at him.

“That’s too bad. How about I take you to the coffee shop until Jeff can get back? Give your cell phone number to Harriet and she’ll call as soon as she gets some news. Isn’t that right, Harriet?”

“Yes, of course,” Harriet agreed readily.

“Good. Come along, Chelsea, my girl. We could both use a cup of coffee today.”

And with that, Chelsea found herself swept out the door, much to Harriet’s relief.